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Radford University Athletics

Home Of The RadFord Highlanders RadFord Highlanders
Daniel and Brady
Matthew Maldonado
6
Winner UNC Asheville AVLBASE 20-32
4
Radford RAD 23-23
Winner
UNC Asheville AVLBASE
20-32
6
Final
4
Radford RAD
23-23
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
UNC Asheville AVLBASE 0 0 2 0 0 2 0 2 0 6 8 0
Radford RAD 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 4 11 0

W: Lucas Boesen (2-3) L: Quintana, Daniel (4-3) S: Branden Barna (2)

Game Recap: Baseball |

Highlanders End Home Slate With Loss to UNC Asheville

RADFORD, Va. – The Radford Highlanders baseball team wrapped up their final home game of the season, celebrating the seniors in a pregame ceremony. Unfortunately for the Highlanders, they did not have anything to celebrate after the game, falling in a 6-4 contest to UNC Asheville on Sunday afternoon.

The win puts UNC Asheville at 8-13 in conference play and keeps their Big South Tournament hopes alive. Radford will need at least one more win and maybe two to clinch a spot next week at Charleston Southern.

Things started on a positive note for Radford, as starter Daniel Quintana needed just six pitches to set down the Bulldogs in order in the first. Junho Son lined a double down the left field line to start the bottom half, and Hunter Keen brought him home with a triple down the other base line. Eli Hudgins' deep fly to center was plenty enough for Keen to scamper home on a sacrifice fly, giving the Highlanders a 2-0 lead through one.

UNC Asheville answered with three-straight hitters reaching to start the third which made it a 2-1 game. Later in the inning, a soft groundout was just enough to allow the tying run to come home from third with two outs to even the score.

Both Quintana and Bulldog starter Lucas Boesen settled in through five, now allowing much traffic in the pitcher's duel. UNC Asheville broke through with a run-scoring double that gave them their first lead in the top of the sixth, and back-to-back sacrifice bunts brought home their fourth run of the day, which also cost Quintana a quality start and eventually gave him the loss.

Alex Levesque entered as a defensive replacement at catcher midway through the game, then came up clutch with a one-out double to get something going for Radford in the seventh. Brooks Simpson then got him home with a line drive single to right, making it a 4-3 game. Son then hit into a double play to end the threat, but not before Radford got one back.

Trouble struck Corey Costello and the Highlanders in the eighth. After the southpaw tossed a quiet seventh, a leadoff walk followed by a single but two on with nobody out. A past ball by Levesque brought home a Bulldogs insurance run, and a rundown by a Bulldog between first and second allowed a second run to score from third to make it 6-3 in the eighth.

Noah Toole came through with another big hit in the bottom of the eighth, smashing a two-strike pitch into the outfield that made it a 6-4 game. Unfortunately, that's all the Highlanders would muster in a comeback. Son had a tough day at the plate, hitting into three double plays, including the game ending 4-6-3 twin killing to finish the contest.

After his multi-homer game last Sunday, Simpson did well a week later to lead Radford with three hits. Breckin Nace also had a pair of singles to log his 15th multi-hit game of the season.

UP NEXT
After dropping two of three to UNC Asheville, the Highlanders will need to finish strong next weekend at Charleston Southern in order to qualify for the Big South Tournament. Game one against the Buccaneers is scheduled for Thursday, May 14 at 6:00 p.m. with coverage on ESPN+.

STAY SOCIAL WITH RADFORD BASEBALL
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